G8 unanimously express ’serious concern’ on Iran: US

AFP, L’aquila, Italy, July 8, 2009 – The Group of Eight leaders meeting here unanimously expressed ’serious concern’ about Iran’s post-election crackdown and its suspect nuclear program, the White House said Wednesday.
Citing an as-yet unreleased joint statement by the leaders, top aides to US President Barack Obama said the world’s leading industrialized nations had formed a united front to heap pressure on the Islamic republic.
The leaders signal ’serious concerns’ over Iran’s atomic drive, ’deplore’ the post-election violence there, warn that the detention of foreign nationals is ’unacceptable,’ US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told reporters on a conference call.
The statement ’stresses the sense of urgency that all leaders feel’ about Iran’s nuclear program, calls on Tehran to ’fully cooperate’ with global demands and comply with UN resolutions ’without further delay,’ he said.
The statement also includes ’a very forthright condemnation’ of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad’s declarations casting doubt on the Holocaust, said Burns.
In talks over dinner on Wednesday, Obama was ’struck at the unanimity around Iran,’ said Denis McDonough, the US president’s deputy national security adviser.
Asked whether Washington was disappointed that the G8 statement did not lay out concrete actions to pressure Iran, Burns replied: ’It’s a strong statement and it reflects a real sense of urgency.’